I currently have a 9'0 6 weight (Cabellas LSi). Does the job and to be honest, with my experience, not sure if I could tell you if it is a great rod but I'm comfortable with it.

I'm looking to get a smaller rod b/ a lot of the areas I've fish it would be beneficial. Also next spring I would like to get into brookie fishing so I know a shorter rod will be beneficial. Few questions:

1) Am I right and do I need a smaller one and is 7'6 the way to go?

2) What weight should I be looking at?

4) After you decide you price point, how do you go abt choosing a rod?

5) Any recommendations of brands?

6) Will I need to purchase a new reel?

Thanks in advance

Posted on: 2012/10/22 10:34

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Stagger_Lee wrote:I currently have a 9'0 6 weight (Cabellas LSi). Does the job and to be honest, with my experience, not sure if I could tell you if it is a great rod but I'm comfortable with it.

I'm looking to get a smaller rod b/ a lot of the areas I've fish it would be beneficial. Also next spring I would like to get into brookie fishing so I know a shorter rod will be beneficial. Few questions:

1) Am I right and do I need a smaller one and is 7'6 the way to go?

2) What weight should I be looking at?

4) After you decide you price point, how do you go abt choosing a rod?

5) Any recommendations of brands?

6) Will I need to purchase a new reel?

Thanks in advance

First,take whatever I say with a grain of salt, I am by no means an expert and I am sure someone will disagree with me. On that note....

1. A smaller rod is beneficial for smaller streams and is good to have in your quiver of rods. However, I would never tell you, that you NEED it. Is ot useful? Yes

2. All depends on what kind of fight you want. Anything from a 0wt to a 4wt is what I would recommend. If ot was up to me and I was buying a rod for small fish, it would be a 2 or 3wt.

4. I mean 3. Do you know how to count? Lol everybody's tastes are different. I like a little slower rod when using a smaller rod. Cast a bunch and see what you enjoy.

5. I mean 4. Sage, Orvis, Winston, Redington, Echo. I have rods from each company and have had no problems.

6. I mean 5. I would say more then likely you will have to purchase a new reel and line.

Posted on: 2012/10/22 10:53

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You're gonna get a lot of different opinions here, and that's ok. There will be some common threads that emerge though probably. Bottom line, go with what seems right and will be comfortable for you. I'll take my shot at them though.

1. Nothing wrong with a 7’6 for the purposes you mention. I’d say that’s about the most commonly used “short” rod for Brookies and smaller streams in terms of length. Some guys so shorter, but the 7’6 will bridge the gap between your 9’0 rod a little better, and will be better on small (but not tiny) streams. On the really tiny Brookie runs, you may at times want a rod that’s a little shorter, but for the most part the 7’6 will still be about ideal and give you a reach advantage over the shorter rods. Truth be told, a lot of times if you can’t make a cast in a tight spot with a 7’6, you probably still can’t make it with a 7’0 or 6’6. FWIW, my small stream/Brookie rod is a 7’0.

2. This is where you will get a lot of different answers probably. Some guys like really light rods (1-2wt), others like a heavier rod (4-5wt). Others split the difference with a 3wt. There’s no right or wrong answer here, they all will do the trick and catch fish. The lighter rods will let the little fish show off a little more and are fun in that respect, but the heavier rods will push line through the brush on a tighter loop. If you plan to fish small streamers too, you may want to look on the heavier end of the spectrum. A lot of times it’s harder to find the 4 and 5 wts in the shorter rod lengths though, where the lighter rods are usually pretty short to start with. FWIW again, my Brookie rod is a 4wt. No matter which you choose, you may want to consider overlining the rod by a line size (I fish 5wt line for instance on my 4wt rod). Regardless of the action of the rod, the heavier line allows you to load the rod with comparatively less line out…this is often useful due to the short casts you make with short rods. There are a lot of people who will disagree on that theory and say you can fish a 4wt rod fine at short distances with 4wt line, and you probably can, but there is an inherent mechanical advantage in overlining a rod for short cast situations, up to maybe 30 ft or so. Above that, overlining becomes a disadvantage, so it should really only be done where most of your casts will be short.

3. Wait, there is no question 3, so I’ll just skip that one.

4. Cast them! Keep your casts short, since that’s mostly what you’ll be doing with them. See how they load in those short range situations, and see what you like. You’ll know when you feel the right one. Cast some different actions…med, med/fast, fast, see what you like.

5. Tough to say, it’s all personal preference. I don’t like the idea of spending a ton of money on a Brookie rod, because it’s gonna be in tight casting situations, and you’re likely to be hiking with it a lot. That said, the following are all about $200 or less and have shorter rod lengths in their line up: Redington (pretty much all of their models), Echo Carbon, LLBean Streamlight Ultra, Cabelas TQR, BPS White River Classic Ultralight, Orvis Clearwater, Cabelas CGR (glass). I’m sure there are a ton more out there. Check the warranty on them, it’s likely you’ll end up using it at some point.

6. Not necessarily, but it’s probably a good idea…I’m assuming you have a fairly decent size reel with 6wt line on it correct? If that’s the case a reel of that size will probably be a little heavy in terms of the balance on a lighter, shorter rod. A smaller reel would probably help. You won’t need anything expensive or with a fancy drag…it’s just gonna hold line 99% of the time and for 99% of the fish you catch you won’t even think about the drag or putting them on the reel. Just something lighter, and comfortable that balances the rod and makes casting easy.

And I would bet if you emailed them they could probably make a combo out of it for $180. As I have stated before, I went looking for an 8wt reel n line and left with this combo and love the heck out of it! Durable case that holds the reel while mounted to the rod, and rio main line prespooled. This was gonna be my short stream rod set up but I got a screamin deal on my 8'3" 3wt mystic m-series, so I bought a redington rise reel and rio avid trout instead, but now I get scared when I take that mystic out, fancy expensive stuff... Though it does have a lifetime warranty as well.

Good luck man! And remember to keep you back cast up, I contra toy catch the weeds in the bank gravel, when I'm not thinking about it.

I got myself a 3wt 7'6" rod just for the tight areas... I was catching to many trees. The fight is great, the presentation is super quiet. However, I really didn't notice the difference in tree branches caught between the 7'6" and the 9.0". Part of the problem is mentality...Part of the solution is also mentality. I still needed to be aware that trees and weeds are still able to catch my flies as well as the fish are.

Posted on: 2012/10/22 12:38

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Good stuff gents and much appreciated. Giving the wife the list for the holiday season and FFishing has replaced my golf wants.

Nice list of brands and I agree, warranty is impt to me. Different but similar opinions and the feel and comfort will be up to me. From what you guys wrote, I'll probably go in the middle re: weight and take swattie's advice on line but I'll chat with him abt that if I find a rod I like. a new reel will be on the list.

Considering that I see myself spending a decent amt of time on streams like Valley & others in Berks, Bucks, Montgomery, LL; Am I correct that a 7 - 7'6 is the way to go when adding to my arsenal?

Mkern .. are you saying I should build my own rod? I haven't even stepped into the world of fly tying so this may be a daunting task

///Yea my counting is as bad as my trout fishing

Posted on: 2012/10/22 15:53

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There are no evil thoughts except one, the refusal to think

Stagger, I made a post in gear talk about rod building, really not that bad, and price is way better, plus you get that little hey I did that feeling. Plus maybe you should put a fly thing kit in the list of presents as well, I loose the darn things constantly, and the cost adds up after a while @ $1.50-2.00 each...

Stag I have everything you would need and willing to help you if you want to build it. A smaller rod like that we could hammer out in a day two longest parts are letting the epoxy for the reel seat and grip dry and the epoxy on the thread wraps but that you put on the drying motor and walk away. If building is an option you would like pm me.

Stag, one time Pcray answered the question about short rods on small streams, and which weight to go with, and I remember him talking about heavier lined rods. He said something to the effect of, brookies aren't spooked by the splash down, but they're spooked by human figures. I hope I'm quoting him accurately here, but I have to say, I found that information to be just about right.

When I'm fishing small brookie streams, I have two rods I go for. Both of them are glass rods, because glass tends to be shorter in length but w/ heavier line. One is a 6' Phillipson and the other is a 7'5" Fenwick. Both of them I use 6wt line. The benefit to this is, I can pretty much just flick my wrist and shoot line out. Obviously back casting is tough on small streams, and I'm probably not efficient enough at roll casts as I should be.

This works for brookie streams though. If you're fishing a stream like Valley, chock full of brownies, I would think about a different approach. Saturday was the first time I fished VC. One section was smaller water (upstream of the park, I'm guessing), and I used a 7'3" 2/3wt lined w/ 3wt line. Apart from wind, I felt this rod handled the conditions very well. When we moved to the section in the park and just above the park, I switched to my heavier lined Fenwick.

I think a 4wt would do you well. Kind of split the difference. It sounds like you're not gonna be using this rod for brookie streams exclusively. A 4wt would give you a pretty happy medium I think. I personally recommend the Allen ATS (that's what my 2/3wt is). Love it, and its very affordable.

I was fourtunate enough to squire KBobs 7'6'' 4wt Orvis Superfine for brookie and small stream fishing, and must say, it worked great for that type of fishing. So yea, a 4wt would be a excellent rod in that length.

Posted on: 2012/10/22 19:25

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